TNG with its counselor on the bridge is clearly a remnant from 70s and EST and all this gaze-at-your-navel belief-think, it dates really badly for me (it seemed out of date even while it was on the air.)

Having a ship's shrink (which is what Troi is and what Elizabeth Dehner was) is vital for people to be able to function well, and to help them get back on track when something bad happens to them. It has nothing to do with EST, period; many ships in the present day U.S. Navy (for example) have them, as is evident in the story of Antwone Fisher. Maybe the execution was a little off, but the idea was and is sound, is a part of real life, and was a part of Star Trek from WNMHGB.

Little factoid related to De Forest Kelly; in the 1950's, he starred in a pilot episode of a TV series (similar to shows like The Silent Service, Navy Log, and Men of Annapolis) in which he played the ship's shrink on the carrier U.S.S. Enterprise (the show was not picked up.)